The Missouri softball team launched its fall season Sept. 25 with a doubleheader. The Tigers are beginning this exhibition season with high hopes after making their second consecutive trip to the Women’s College World Series in the spring.
Morale among players is high after a strong start to the fall season. In its home doubleheader, Missouri swept Maple Woods Community College and North Central Missouri College. The competition consists of all junior and community colleges but coach Ehren Earleywine maintains its usefulness.
“Sure, the scores probably won't be close, but it gives me a chance to see people in different spots,” he said. “The competition really comes from our team. You have another girl breathing down your neck at all times competing for that starting spot.”
Earleywine said the team looks good overall. The team is returning 17 players, and junior pitcher Kristin Nottelmann and redshirt sophomore pitcher Chelsea Thomas are healthy again.
Nottelmann sat out the post-season last year with a stress fracture in her throwing hand. This fall she is working to get her hand back to full strength.
“The hand is healed 100 percent,” Nottelmann said. “I just need to get used to throwing again. It’s been a while.”
The number one problem already plaguing the team is injuries. Several players are suffering from minor injuries. Although not serious enough to keep them off the field, the players are still hindered by them.
“All of the injuries we have are preexisting conditions,” Earleywine said. “None of them have happened in practice.”
Among the more seriously injured are freshman outfielder Taylor Duplechain and senior catcher Megan Christopher. Both had surgery and are not expected to be back to full strength until at least 10 games into the spring season.
“It's unfortunate that we lost these two,” Earleywine said.
Duplechain and Christopher will be back in plenty of time to make a difference in the spring season, but the fact they have to sit out the fall means they can’t show coaches what they can do. This is detrimental for Duplechain, who is a freshman.
In preparation for the spring season, coach Earleywine wants to focus on mechanics and the little things rather than wins.
“In the spring, you’ll do anything to get a W,” Earleywine said. “In the fall, we don’t really want to focus on our record, but perfecting things like hitting and throwing.”
Another important thing Earleywine stressed was finding the weaknesses in their game and shining a spotlight on them. Senior first baseman Marla Schweisberger echoed his concern.
“We need to find each other’s weaknesses and exploit them, so we can fix them,” she said. “It all comes down to execution.”
Nottelmann has a few specific things to work on this season.
“My speed on pitches is good, but I want to work on my location, especially on the changeup,” Nottelmann said. “My spin is another thing that needs a little bit of tweaking. I’m putting in the extra time to make sure it’s where I want it come spring time.”
When spring does roll around, the team has high expectations after losing its second straight World Series. The players were asked to put last year’s season into one word, which generated mixed responses. Words such as adversity, improving and encouraging were thrown around. When it came time to pick a word for this season, the consensus among players was obvious: championship.
“We feel like the third time’s the charm,” Schweisberger said. “We have returned so many players, and we feel like the chemistry on this team is too much to not win the National Title.”
The players summarized the season appropriately, but none did it better than coach Earleywine. In his mind, the word for this season: redemption.
“We’ve got some things to take care of back in Oklahoma City,” he said.
The Tigers will continue their fall season with a doubleheader beginning at noon Saturday at University Field.
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